Moving to America, the road to American Citizenship, Green Card, Dating, travel and marriage to an American amongst others; are what this blog is about. Living abroad - Georgia, Eastern Europe, near Russia, teaching English Second Language and other adventure filled experiences. Please, take a moment and indulge, if not live vicariously!

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

My new roommate, Carly and I stayed up and talked all night. We must have gone to bed around 1am. We talked, we laughed, she cried. It was all good. Not the crying, but the getting to know each other. Talking with her was like being back home and talking to my niece, who is my best friend.

She had work the following morning. I can't remember if I did too. I probably did. When she found out what I did for a living, she wanted to join in too. This kid has a full time job and is about to go to school full time, she is also a part time model, how is she going to find time to do what I do as well? That's when people start getting it twisted, when the want to live your life and forget about theirs. #sidetracked I gave her the names of a big agency in LA. They have modeling gigs.

When I told my friends about my new roommate, they gave me more modeling agency contact details. It's Hollywood; everyone is a model, photographer, actor, musician, the works. Everyone! At least, they didn't mind sharing. They probably could tell I was posing no threat in the modeling sphere haha. She wrote down all the contacts I gave her and watched Desperate housewives on Netflix. She loves her Desperate Housewives. I ain't mad at her though. I have DHW pin my hard drive, I watched all seasons while in Georgia and lots more. What do you do when you're in a country where no one speaks English? Watch sht loads of TV shows on your PC.

Cut back to a month prior. Before Carly, after Jon. When I lived alone:
I got an email from Daniel. Remember him? The Italian from San Diego. The one who was promising, that I was looking forward to get to know but he just disappeared. Well, he got back to me! I messaged him back. He asked for my number, I gave it to him. He called one evening. I picked up. He responded in a very enthusiastic, high pitched voice that sounded almost like a machine. I was so confused, is this a woman? a machine? What's going on? We talked for about an hour. The conversation flowed pretty smoothly. It usually does. That's a nice thing, but it doesn't mean anything really. He told me I could save his number and call him whenever I wished. That was a nice sign but I told him I would rather he called me. I wasn't going to save his number. I'm not gonna call a guy I don't even know and catch him at a wrong time and get all self conscious if he doesn't answer, cuts the call short or hangs up. What do you do next? Do you call him again, or do you hope that he gets that he has to make the next call? I can't. I'd rather he be responsible for all that.

He's older (as usual), single, never been married (red flag?), doesn't have any kids, (is open to having them or not. aka he doesn't want them. I should know), The longest relationship he has ever been in was three years long and that was the only long one. I didn't know this man but I felt like I knew him very well so I went ahead and put my foot in it and told him that I wonder if the fact that he has never really been in a long term relationship and never been married was a sign that, maybe, he was a perfectionist and nobody was ever good enough. He laughed and said, I didn't know him well enough to say that. I told him, I did. I told him he will be surprised how much i knew him. I was talking through my ass, obviously. Just yanking his chain. No pun intended.

We must have talked one more time and then he told me that his friends were visiting from Italy. Daniel didn't know how long the friends intended to stay here for. They were there for like two weeks or so. He emailed me twice or so while the friends were there. Really long emails. The conversations with D were really nice and long and great. He is pretty open minded. He turned out to be more laid back than I assumed he'd be. What do I know, I don't know really rich people like him. Dude used to be a radio show host and own the entire radio station for ten years in Italy. He now owns his own company. A serious company that manufactures or whatevers whatever whatever. It's a full on thing. They have conventions every year and stuff like that. He's a top dog. I guess that kinda intimidated me about him, even though I didn't want to admit it. Or did I? Daniel has a personal trainer. Like someone who goes to his house and trains him. I don't know people who have personal trainers! Do I look like I know anything about personal trainers?

Daniel told me that he would come see me as soon as his friends left. It was about time, I had been talking to him for a month. I was talking to a number of other people who aren't that significant. I went out every Sunday with a different guy for five weeks. That was a record even for a serial dater like me. It better be after the miserable Valentine's I had, shoot!

His friends finally left, Daniel called, we talked, he told me he was going to come visit that Sunday. He told me to pick a nice restaurant for us. I got soooooo nervous. I don't get nervous. I just don't. So what? It's just another date, right? D doesn't text, he will not read nor reply to your text if your text him. Call or email him and he will always respond. I was so looking forward to seeing him, I imagined him wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. So I did what any normal person does, and asked him to send me a picture of himself in a white shirt, which he did that very evening when he got home. He asked why the white shirt. Like I was going to reveal my craziness to him. I just said, oh, nothing, I was just curious. He looked nothing like he did in any of the pictures he had sent me. That kinda threw me off.

I looked online for a nice restaurant, I don't know any nice restaurants. I have been to a few but none NICE. I don't know what his idea of nice was but I wasn't about to take any chances. I Yelped 'Nice Restaurants' in Hollywood. I found a few. My two top faves are Seafood and Indian Food. If I could find one that is not a buffet that serves both, even better. I found a nice one! Gordon Ramsay's The London. you may remember him from TV, he does just about all the restaurant/chef shows on tv. Hell's Kitchen too. I was like, this sounds nice to me! I called to make a reservation. I felt so fancy making restaurant reservations. I've never done that before. When Daniel called, I gave him details, he looked it up, just so he knew how to get us there. It's by the 5 Star, The London hotel in West Hollywood. F-A-N-C-Y Five star baby!

He called that morning just to touch base. Or did I call him? Actually, I think I called him. I was like omg I'm so nervous. I told him that I never get nervous. I had already give him my address. I live in a ginormous apartment block, I just gave him the apartment address. I told him not to be surprised if I didn't come out haha. He was like you would never do that to me. I was like, probably not, but let's see. Who knows, maybe I'll surprise us both.

I had this feeling inside me to do something nice for him. This guy was about to drive three hours one way to come see me and three hours or more back, depending on traffic. That was a big deal. I wanted him to know I appreciated it. Unlike the douche bag who had insisted I took public transportation to go see him in San Diego. Phuck you a** hole. I looked around my apt for something to give Daniel. It had to be something I valued. He had told me that his favorite color is blue. Dark blue. I decided to give him my special Dr Phil Cup. I hand wrote him a note as to how I got the cup, how much it meant to me etc. It's dark blue. So that was a plus. I put that in a gift bag and hid it in my handbag. If the date was a disaster, I obviously wasn't going to give it to him. I knew it was going to be great, I had a good feeling about it. That feeling is very rarely wrong.

I got ready, wore my most forgiving dress, if you know what I mean ;) I wasn't gonna be walking around with my sausages revealed in front of a man who works out with a personal trainer four times a week! He called as he got off the freeway onto Santa Monica Boulevard. That's my street. Sht, he's close! He called again and said he was downstairs. My apartment was right next to a club called Gold Diggers. He joked about that during the call. Like, do you have anything to do with this club? Haha, yeah totally, I came up with the name. I had my matching jewelery on, the dress, and cute heels. He had told me he's 6'1, so I can wear as high heels as I wanted but I wasn't going to. I like to be comfortable. Right? Who wants to be tripping and falling on a first date? When I got downstairs from the fourth floor, I realized that the rock fell of my ring. I had to run back up the stairs. I couldn't take the elevator, I must have dropped it on the stairway. I guess I could have taken the elevator up and walked back but I didn't think about it, only now lol; five months later. Good going, Brook!

I found my thing, ran back down. By the time I got there, I was sweating, awesome! Just what I need. In a wool dress. I walked out and looked for a car, oops, there he was. Right by the entrance. He was standing right next to the main entrance of my apt. I was like, omg you're so tall! He looked taller than I expected, and I expected him to be tall! I gave him a hug, he gives good hugs too. Nice and strong. He kinda chiropractors you. It feels good. I am always in a mood for that or a massage. That's probably why I went to school for massage. You know what they say, the one who needs it the most, is the one who goes to school for it, like Psychologists etc. Don't shoot the messenger.

There were police officers across the street from my apartment. We had to walk all the way to the light (robot), otherwise we could get in trouble for Jay Walking (crossing in the middle of the street, not by the street light or stop sign). As we were crossing the street, I was quickly scouring the street, trying to figure out which are was his. All the cars were kinda old out there. i was like where is your car? We were already by the car. It was a 1980's Golf. I had to quickly improv act not surprised. I wondered if the guy really did have money, was he going to be able to afford the restaurant I had reserved for us. Oh my goodness. I thought to myself, if push comes to shove, I'l just have to pay. At least for my food. We drove toward West Hollywood. It was just before six when we drove into The London. Fancy as hell! There are ushers, valet, everything. We got off the car, he handed the keys to the Valet guy, we walked in, The place looks amazing! Look it up if you will. It's gold and white and black in some areas. Really posh. Daniel's jaw dropped. He was like, you did a good job picking this one, this is a nice place. I was like, ah ehm, thanks! I'm thinking, I hope this is a sign, he's going to be able to pay for it. If not, I'm keeping my Dr. Phil Cup.

The hostess welcomed us in, asked if we were celebrating anything. I wanted to say, yeah, our first date. He said no haha. We found a table in the corner, the place is nice and open. It wasn't busy yet, people were walking in one by one, it was dinner time after all. The cheapest thing on the menu is like $30. We both had seafood. Daniel is vegetarian but eats fish. I didn't know that until then. He asked them some fancy question about how the fish was raised or something. I didn't know what in the world he was talking about. Fortunately, the over-enthusiastic waiter did. The food was absolutely divine! I had desert, he didn't because he is too health conscious. he doesn't eat sweets. Well, I'm not not gonna eat Gordon Ramsay's desert. Before we went out, while doing my research, I asked one of my sisters, the cooking one. She is a big fan of Gordon's, she has a ton of his books. I asked her to recommend something. She recommended desert, so of course I was gonna have some desert. Plus, you know how they dish at these fancy restaurants, tiny little servings, all decorated and everything. It's more like sampling than anything else.

We sat and talked and ate and talked and talked and talked. It was nice, conversation was flowing as usual. Daniel is the best date. He is just the best person, period. Later on, like three hours into the date, he rubbed my back, hhhhaaaaa, I can still feel it :) Amazeballs! He did it for a good number of minutes too. Thanks Dee! We had a nice view of West Hollywood, we got to see a bit of sunset. We literally stayed until they closed shop. We were the last people to leave at 10pm. He took me home. Nice drive, West Hollywood at night, lights, lights, lights. We got to my place, parked, got out of the car. I gave him the cup. He was like, aaawww, thank you, that was so thoughtful of you, you're so sweet! He said he was going to read the note at home. We made out for like ever. Mhhhhhhhhhh. People were like honking and yelling, get a room. Please, it wasn't that bad. Hashtag Jealous.

Monday, August 25, 2014

After Jon's abrupt move, I got to enjoy the comfort of living alone for the rest of February. I walked around in the nude all the time for the heck of it. It was great. He pretty much walked around naked when he was still there, he would only put a towel in his groin area.

I took a break the following month from roommates, did tv shows and a few other random gigs in between and by the grace of the good Lord made enough to pay rent for the month without a roommate. Thank Goodness! Almost two months roommateless. Freedoom! halfway through March, I had to start scouting for a roommate though. Least favorite thing to do ever! I posted an ad on Craig's list, pretty much the same one as before and just change dates. I had only a few people come by that time. I think I mentioned that I was looking for a female roommate for a change. I interviewed a few of the ladies and one stuck out. We'll call her Carly. She's 21, a tall, dark skinned African girl. She's a model, bright eyed, girl with great vibe. I hoped she would want to stay with me as much as I did. I don't mind the age difference, never did. I get along with people of all age groups. Some people make a big deal about age difference though, so.

One of the girls was like, OMG I love you, you'rel so cool. You're gonna be my new best friend blah blah blah. First, on email, she had told me about how she just moved to LA from New York. She is spiritual and a vegetarian, she is on the path blah blah blah, you know the spiritual type. I have nothing against that. I just hoped that if I ended up with her, she wouldn't drive me up the wall with her righteous path. When she came over, she was a totally different person, talking about if you've got it flaunt it. That's what she does with her ass, apparently it's her best asset. No pun intended lol. She was telling me about dating white guys, she's African American; blah blah blah. When I walked her to the bus stop, we were talking and she all of a sudden flipped. She was jumping up and down, omg did you see the guy in that car? If the light was red, I totally would've gone over there and talked to him. I was so confused, whatever happened to the path, lady? I just played along though. I am all for crazy, heck, I'm as crazy as the best of them. My thing is, don't try to be holier than thou art one minute, the next be, well, like me. Be yourself. Nobody likes a fake person.

Two days or so later, I got a text from the 21 year old; Carly. She told me she was taking the place. Day after that, she sent me a text, asking if I could help her move. I had told her that I didn't mind her moving in a few days early. I wasn't going to charge her that. That was my way of ensuring that I had a roommate by the beginning of the month. Short of asking her to pay before moving in, which no one is going to do. She had told me that she had a part time job as a waitress, her dad was going to pay rent for her. She had moved to LA a month prior to pursue modeling and to go to school. She had told me that she only had a few luggage pieces with clothes, no furniture, which would work out great as I didn't have room for furniture. She had said she would hire a car to move with. I asked why a car if she only had a few suitcases. She said that the suitcases were very large, she wouldn't be able to take them on the bus. I got confused when she asked me to help her move. Did she want me to help put her suitcases in and out the car? How often does someone you don't even know ask you to help them move? That never happens. I asked her what the plan was, she told me she was waiting for her friend to help her move, she had promised to move her. Friend has a car. I was relieved. I wasn't about to drag around a strangers suitcases all the way from Santa Monica to Hollywood. Who helps me move?

Two days passed, she was still waiting for the friend to move her. I wondered if she had changed her mind about moving in. I didn't want to be pushy and ask, in case she was stressed about the move and the friend situation. I could only hope for the best at that point. Finally, the following day, she told me that she would move in that morning. Then in the morning, she said around noon. Around noon, still nothing. Good thing, it was the weekend and I had no plans.That afternoon, she called and asked me to open the main door for her. She was outside. Whew! I went downstairs, looked around for her. There she was, still walking down the street. My street happened to be Santa Monica Boulevard. It takes you straight to Santa Monica, the beach etc. I love Santa Monica, it's beautiful over there. Parts of it are pretty artsy. I'm into that. It's an expensive neighborhood though. Right by the beach. Carly had sh*t loads of stuff, my neighbor was also helping them carry stuff and that was not even it. I was like, omg I hope we are gonna have enough room for all these clothes. I didn't mind if she didn't. It's just stuff, as long as we get along, I'll be happy.

She pushed some of the suitcases into the closet and some under the bed. There were lots of them. She told me that wasn't even all her clothes. Such a girl. She had cute clothes too. All her clothes are cute and trendy. The joys of being a model. She told her friend to leave her there, she was going to spend the night that night then leave for work from there the following day. Her friend is Latina (Hispanic). She gave us a ride to the 99cents store. We both wanted to do grocery shopping. On the way, she wouldn't stop telling us about how dangerous the neighborhood next to the one next to mine was. I was just like, seriously, stop. What's the deal with this girl. What does she want me to do? Fix Los Angeles? I just sat quietly in the back seat and bit my tongue. What am I gonna say? I don't know these people and I don't own Los Angeles. It is what it is and it ain't what it ain't. The friend even mentioned that growing up, she was molested a few different time in one of the neighborhoods. I was like seriously, this girl. She sounded ridiculous, not that I don't believe that people can get molested over and over again but who tells a random stranger that. It just seemed like she was being an attention seeker to me. I wasn't interested.

Friend dropped us off. We took the bus back. Carly had never been to the 99 cents store. She didn't even know about it. She was so excited. Her mom called while we were there. She told her about the store and how everything was only 99 cents. I think at first she thought we were going to share everything. I am not crazy about that idea. I remember whenever I showed her something she might need, she would be like but we already have that in the apartment. I thought oh heck no. If you found it in the apartment, it doesn't mean it comes with the apartment, it means I paid for it. Therefore you have to buy yours. She caught on fast though. Even though she didn't buy everything the first day, I didn't mind letting her use some of mine like cleaning supplies. She would then buy them when we ran out, which was cool. She also didn't mind splitting up to buy things. I felt bad making her pay for some things that I didn't mind buying but I had seen enough with Jon. I didn't want to go through the experience again. I even asked her, please let me know beforehand if you want to move, don't just sneak out with my laptop. It's the only one I have. That became our standing joke.